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BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey
On good shooting night, even though some shots were missed early...
"I think in the first half we got off to a slow start, but credit UTPA. That program is so much improved. I'll go back many, many years when Louisiana Tech and UTPA were in the same league for a while, and Larry Tidwell just has them playing hard. When they can play A&M to two points, and only lose to Texas by 17 - we were ready, we respected them, we went over our scouting report thoroughly and they came out and they played hard. They went up on us, and it was after that point that we just went on a big run, and as you can see, we've got a lot of weapons, a lot of people that can score, and we're playing a lot of kids. Then you add [Kristy Wallace] to the mix, we've got one more game without her, and I just think this team is getting better every time we hit the floor."

On how comfortable everyone is with Niya Johnson out there...
"Well, when you don't have your quarterback, everybody has to do a little bit more, and you're probably not comfortable playing out of position. Ieshia [Small] is truly a wing player, but she can handle the ball, and I thought she and Imani [Wright] both did well when I didn't have Niya. When you've got your point guard and quarterback back out on the floor, there's a comfort level there ... I didn't realize she had 10 assists and no turnovers in 26 minutes of play. That's delivering the ball to a lot of people."

On the bigs running the floor well...
"I thought our bigs Sune [Agbuke], I thought Kristina [Higgins] were a presence, and not just running the floor, but defensively. When we would get beat off the dribble, there they stood, and then I thought when we went small and gave them another look, just running the floor. We're going to make you run; we're going to push it after every made basket; we're going to push it after turnovers. Certainly, we've got to get better in half court execution, and that comes with time."

On Nina Davis' performance tonight...
"She didn't miss but two shots, and I know that the last couple of games were not typical Nina field goal percentage, but you have to remember I'm playing her out of position. She had been starting at the three for us, until we can get [Kristy Wallace] back and I can get a rotation like I have it. So tonight she was more at the four than she was at the three and she was back in her comfort zone."

Sophomore Nina Davis
On being more comfortable under the basket...
"I would definitely say I'm more comfortable underneath the basket, mainly because that's where I played all last year, so it's pretty much where I've learned how to play, move, know where to be, where the ball is coming, stuff like that. As far as the three position goes, if my team needs me to be out there, I'll do anything to help the team. It's different out there, but every team needs somebody to do it."

On how the team has grown in the past couple of games...
"Just from the Kentucky game, I feel that we have really grown as a team, we're pretty much putting the pieces together. As you can see we have many different weapons, everybody's stepping up and doing their part, so I think we're going to be alright as we go down the road."

Junior Niya Johnson
On being back out there and getting into the flow of the game...
"Yeah, I was just trying to get my groove back from the game I missed, and I can't worry about the injury. I just have to go out and play. If I worry about the injury, I'm not going to be able to play my game. So I just went out there comfortable and helped my teammates get this W."

On how much it helps when the bigs run the floor...
"It's like heaven when they run, especially [Khadijiah Cave]. She really runs the floor very well."

UTPA POSTGAME QUOTES

UTPA Head Coach Larry Tidwell
Opening statement...
"It felt good to come back. And, you know, we've been playing really well. And we played a hard schedule. I've played four teams now in the top 15 in the country, and we've matched up a little bit with some of them, played them hard. And then we came into Baylor, and I couldn't match up with them on the guards or the post play. I mean, they're just, I think, as they get more experienced and play together, and I know the Australian [Kristy Wallace] will be back soon. I think this may be Kim's [Mulkey] best team. I mean, depth-wise and everything, oh my gosh, they've got it one through the five, and then they've got somebody else to come in and do it. So, they are deep, they are talented, and they are well coached."

On Baylor running the floor...
"You see, that's the whole deal. You know, I've played Texas, I've played A&M, DePaul, ranked teams, and no one can run the floor like Baylor can. Plus, the ones they've got running the floor are three or four inches taller than everybody that we've run the floor with. And gosh, they're five to six inches taller than us, and I'm talking about their guards. I mean, 13 [Nina Davis] is a nightmare of a matchup. I think that's one of the best players in the entire country because she can play the three, she can play the four. We like to full-court press, things along that line, she's taking it out on the press; that's a bad matchup for me. I mean, that girl is good, and she's just a sophomore. That shows you a lot right there. It is so good to see Baylor, first class in everything they do, and the players are first class; the facilities are first class; everything, when you walk in here, this is what it's all about."

On Shawnte' Goff getting off to a good start...
"She did, she did get off to a good start, and we tried to get her going a little bit more. I wanted her to shoot a little bit more. She doesn't want to be a ball-hog, but if we want a chance to do really well in our conference, which we can, she's going to have to shoot a little bit more and get squared around."

On what they take out of a game like this...
"Well, you expose your kids to what it's like to be big-time, Division I. You like to take them into arenas where people have won national championships and when you do that, you know, like next week I'm going to Texas Tech. They won a national championship a few weeks back, and you try to get them in that environment. But like I said, the biggest thing we have to do out of this, we can't lose our confidence."